Roger QUILTER (1877-1953)
The Complete Quilter Songbook - Volume 3
Mark Stone (baritone)
Stephen Barlow (piano)
rec. 2007, The Music Room, Champs Hill, West Sussex, England
STONE RECORDS 5060192780956 [77:16]
We have been waiting a long time for volume three of this series, with the first two volumes arriving in 2013 and 2014, but the wait has been worthwhile, with this latest volume being as equally compelling as the earlier discs in the series.
Roger Quilter was a native of Hove in Sussex and was the son of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter, 1st Baronet, a wealthy landowner, stockbroker and politician, serving as a Liberal Unionist in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1906 and he was also an avid art collector and fan of the arts in general, so his youngest son, Roger, got a good grounding in the arts. After school in Farnborough he was sent to Eton, and later the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where his fellow students included Percy Grainger, Cyril Scott, Norman O'Neill and Henry Balfour Gardiner. Although, Quilter composed in most genres, including an opera, Julia, it is, however, his songs for which he is mainly remembered; indeed he has come to be regarded as a stalwart of the English art song and was an influence on many other song composers including Peter Warlock. Like most collectors of his music, my collection of his music mainly revolves around his songs, with many fine interpreters featured; with a disc of his piano music, and a disc of his orchestral music, which is regarded as light in style, as well as a few discs where these orchestral pieces feature.
His songs include some very fine examples of the English genre, and it is easy to see why he was such an influence on others. This present disc draws upon a wide range of text sources, including folk song arrangements of Britain and Ireland, but also from France and Germany, both in translation and the original language, with the ever popular, The Ash Grove, being sadly, the sole Welsh representative here. A lot of these songs appear on the Naxos disc of his folk song arrangements (8.557495), although I much prefer the single voice of Mark Stone to the varied voices of the soloists that feature on that disc, with the rich timbre of his baritone giving many of the songs a new impetus. Here we get sixteen songs from the The Arnold Book of Old Songs, divided into national sections, with Over the Mountains and Barbara Allen of the English section being particularly good. Whilst the best of Quilter’s song output features on the previous two discs, there are still some impressive songs here too, the American spiritual I got a robe came as quite a shock, I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but it is a lovely arrangement and sympathetically sung. Whilst The cradle in Bethlehem is not a well-known Christmas carol, in this version it certainly deserves to be better appreciated. We even get two songs from ‘Love at the Inn’, which are from the revised edition of his opera Julia. The Four Songs of Mirza Schaffy Op.2 receive an equally good performance to that by John Mark Ainsley and Malcolm Martineau on Hyperion (CDA66878), with Mark Stone’s baritone adding a touch more sonority and warmth to the music.
This is an interesting and very impressive disc, one in which Mark Stone and Stephen Barlow once again show themselves to be an excellent partnership, I have enjoyed their disc of the Butterworth songs (5060192780024), and Volume 1 of the Delius songs (5060192780062), as well as Volume 1 of the Quilter (5060192780956) all on disc; I only have a download of Volume 2 (5060192780307). Here, Stone has at times a youthful bloom to his voice whilst Stephen Barlow’s piano playing is perfectly intoned with the voice, showing what skill he has as an accompanist as well as being a very fine pianist in his own right. The recorded sound is very good, whilst the booklet notes by Mark Stone are also excellent and are akin to Graham Johnson’s in the way he introduces the composer as well as each of the songs and translates each of the songs in French and German. A thoroughly researched and well performed disc, one I have no doubt, that will give delight to any fan of Roger Quilter’s music, and of English art songs as well.
Stuart Sillitoe
Previous review: David Dunsmore
Contents
The Arnold Book of Old Songs – English
No. 1, Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes [2:25]
No. 2, Over the Mountains [1:57]
No. 3, My Lady Greensleeves [3:26]
No. 12, The Jolly Miller [2:18]
No. 8, Barbara Allen [4:00]
No. 9, 3 Poor Mariners [1:25]
No. 15, Since First I Saw Your Face [1:53]
What Will You Do, Love? [2:00]
Wind from the South [2:50]
The Arnold Book of Old Songs – Irish
No. 4, Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms [2:14]
No. 5, Oh! 'Tis Sweet to Think [1:52]
The Rose of Tralee [2:32]
The Walled-in Garden [1:57]
I got a robe [1:45]
Slumber Song [2:01]
Arnold Book of Old Songs – Scottish
No. 6, Ye Banks and Braes [2:31]
No. 7, Charlie is my Darling [1:30]
No. 8, Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes [3:24]
Freedom [2:45]
Two Songs from ‘Love at the Inn’
If Love Should Pass Me By [1:36]
Love Calls Through the Summer Night [5:16]
The cradle in Bethlehem [2:51]
The Arnold Book of Old Songs – French
No. 9, The Man Behind the Plough [3:08]
No. 10, My Lady's Garden [3:59]
No. 11, Pretty Month of May [1:26]
Vous et moi [2:11]
Mond, du bist glücklicher als ich [1:44]
Four Songs of Mirza Schaffy Op.2
No. 1, Neig' schöne Knospe dich zu mir [2:04]
No. 2, Und was die Sonne glüht [1:14]
No. 3, Ich fühle deinen Odem [2:04]
No. 4, Die helle Sonne leuchtet [1:37]
Daisies After Rain [1:15]
The Arnold Book of Old Songs – Welsh
No. 16, The Ash Grove [2:07]
